


Tea and Bourbon

by Pepper (Zalt)



Category: Star Wars Legends: The Old Republic (Video Game)
Genre: Alderaan is beautiful, I just wanted them both to have a moment of peace and quiet, Lana needs a break, Other, Vector has suffered enough, nothing a nice cup of tea can't fix
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-01
Updated: 2020-03-01
Packaged: 2021-03-12 21:00:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,658
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22963681
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zalt/pseuds/Pepper
Summary: The new Alderaan stronghold is so beautiful, and the setting has so much potential. For now, I just wanted to let Vector settle in and have a moment of peace. No plot happens here.
Comments: 6
Kudos: 12





	Tea and Bourbon

Vector was gradually surfacing from his evening meditations, once more pushing the whispers and songs of the Oroboro hive to the background of consciousness as he prepared to return to the necessary solitude of humanity. A chord of recognition chimed through the fading song, and he paused to focus on it. 

A ship was settling down on the castle grounds, the rays of the setting sun forming a halo around the familiar outline before it settled down in the long shadows cast by the craggy Alderaan mountains. The hive sent fingerlings to buzz around the ship, watching as the expected occupant of the ship descended from the lowering gangway. 

Vector opened his own eyes and let the vision of the hivemind fade away. Lana Beniko had returned. He rose to get properly dressed and bid her welcome.

* * *

“We regret to say we can’t help you. Cipher Nine will not return until tomorrow evening.”

He watched Lord Beniko carefully as she frowned at this news. Though it was clearly unwelcome, her aura remained calm and unalarmed. There was no urgency, then. But a flicker of discomfort twitched among the usual gold and greens surrounding her, tasting of ashes and metal. 

“I thought she’d be here, helping you get the Killiks properly settled.”

“This was our plan, but her presence was urgently required elsewhere. Though we prefer to stay at her side, we agreed that the Oroboro are as yet in need of the Dawn Herald as they negotiate their new position among the local nests. Once a new balance has been found and harmony returns among the hives, we will be able to leave Alderaan more often.”

“Hm. Tomorrow, then? I suppose I can wait that long.” She glanced towards the window. The sun was disappearing behind the mountains, the last fiery crimsons of sunset fading to deep indigo. Faint wrinkles appeared on her forehead.

“We do hope you will do us the honor of staying at the Castle, Lord Beniko. The closest guest chamber has been refurbished and secured to the exacting specifications of Cipher Nine. It will be as safe as your ship, and far more comfortable.”

Beniko hesitated, aura rippling before settling into calmness again. “Thank you. I will stay.” After a thoughtful moment, she added. “I can’t remember the last time I had a full day of downtime, with no fires to put out.” She added after a heartbeat. “Metaphorically.”

Vector nodded. “We are familiar with the idiom, Lord Beniko, and we are most pleased to have your company. Once you are settled into your chambers, would you like to join us for the evening meal? It would be quite informal, as we had not planned for guests today.”

“Very well, I will. And please, call me Lana.” She smiled, and Vector realized he appreciated the way the smile transformed her appearance. After the long and and painful years of virtual exile to the front lines with only the Oroboro for company, he had once more started to forget the nuances of human body language. Now that he was back with Cipher Nine, the skill of interpreting it was returning, and he realized belatedly that he was remiss in not communicating properly with Lord Beniko in that regard.

He tentatively smiled in return, a momentary stiffness giving way to genuine warmth. “Then you must call us Vector. We look forward to your company.”

* * *

When the last remains of the evening meal were being cleared away from their balcony table, Vector turned to Lana. “We usually have some tea after dinner, to drink while we watch the stars. We believe you drink tea as well? Or would you like something else?”

Lana leaned back a little in her chair, looking far more relaxed than she had at the beginning of their meal. “I do drink tea. Mmm. Given the circumstances, perhaps a glass of bourbon as well.”

“Of course.”

The attentive staff was dismissed once the drinks were delivered, and Vector carefully poured the tea into fragile looking cups. “The tea service came with the castle, it is apparently of some antiquity. The bourbon is also of a respectable age. We hope it meets with your approval.”

Lana lifted her cup of tea, and took a tentative sip. “Mm. Alderaanian? Subtle flavor. I think I will forego my usual praxis of adding the bourbon to the tea, it would be a shame in this case.”

“We would not mind if you drank tea in your accustomed manner, Lana. We once preferred more robust flavors of tea ourselves, but after our transformation we find them somewhat overwhelming. We might have considered it a downside to the Joining with the nest, if our new senses had not also let us appreciate fully all the subtleties and flavours of the delicate teas.”

Lana half raised her cup in salute, and they both drank in comfortable silence, focusing their attention on enjoying the flavor of the tea, and the warmth of it that was welcome in the cooling air.

The castle was winding down for the night, the bustle of staff and workers dying down, and a low background rumble of machines made itself noticed only when it shut down, leaving only the nearest waterfalls to prevent true silence from falling.

Overhead, the stars were multiplying as the night grew darker, twinkling brightly in the moonless night. Vector could see the surrounding countryside clearly with his enhanced vision, gaze lingering fondly for a while on the Killik mounds that were growing larger by the day. Then he looked to Lana.

She was looking up at the sky, ungloved hands folded around her cup of tea. The earlier disturbance was gone from her aura, which was now a balanced harmony of green and gold, and tasted of freshly cut wood and something that reminded him of the old-fashioned ink the nobles of Alderaan still used for some of their writing.

The thought inspired him to speak. “Though the hive is still rebuilding, they no longer need our continuous attention. We are happy we have once more found time to work on our memoirs.”

Lana blinked golden eyes at him, appearing… surprised, he thought. “You are writing your memoirs? About life with the Killiks?”

“And about what we can recall from our earlier days, with the diplomatic service. We think there is something to be learned from our experiences, both as a human and a Joiner.”

“I would love to read it some day, if I may.”

“We would be delighted.”

Lana put her cup down, replacing it with a crystal glass into which she had poured a small amount of bourbon. She drank from it. Contemplated silently for a while, then finished the bourbon and put the glass down. “Cipher Nine did say you were something of a poet.”

Vector smiled again, more easily now. “We used to think ourselves one. And then we Joined the nest, and were embarrassed at our poor attempts once we learned the richness and depth of the Killik songs.” There was another faint disturbance to Lana’s aura, but her expression remained unchanged.

“And now?”

“And now we once more enjoy songs and poetry, both of the human and Killik kind. Both in the act of creation, and in encountering that which is made by others. Of the many things we have learned over time from the nest is the appreciation of diversity, the beauty of contrasts and otherness and how they all integrate into a whole. Into the Song of the Universe.”

“That is poetic, indeed.” She hesitated, intent spiking through her aura before fading again, and she returned to studying the sky without speaking again.

Vector thought she might have wished to communicate something, but failed to find a way to do it. He sympathised -- the intimate touch of mind to minds in the hive made communication effortless, but exchanging meaning with the unJoined remained a daily struggle. If only she had been Joined too...

The whisper of the Oroboro in the background of his mind grew stronger as the nest responded to his musings. Lana Beniko, it agreed, would make a fine addition to the nest. A strong fighter, a good mind, and the Oroboro had not yet been Joined to a Sith. They would grow stronger, if she became one with them. There were Givers already producing Membrosia in the new Killik mounds, it would be so easy to offer her some. To take her on a tour of the nest, and let the pheromones start the work of the Joining…

Vector shuddered briefly, suppressing the impulse. Cipher Nine would disapprove. No, she would be outraged and hurt. And he would never do anything to hurt her. Not even for the nest.

“Are you getting cold?” Lana must have noticed his shudder. He seized the excuse. 

“It is getting rather late, and there is a cold breeze from the mountains.” He pushed his chair back, and waited until she had finished her own drink before rising. “Perhaps it is time to retire. If you wish, in the morning we can give you a tour of the castle and the surrounding lands.” Except the Killik caves, he silently decided. The nest was still pressing on his mind, hungering for a new Joining. It was better not to tempt it.

Lana rose as well. “Yes, I’d like that. I can find my own way back to the chambers. Good night, Vector.”

“Good night, Lana. Sleep well.”

He looked after her until she was gone, then walked up to the railing of the balcony to rest his hands on it and look out over the Killik lands under the starlit Alderaanian skies. The nest was growing, the galaxy was enjoying a rare period of peace, and tomorrow his Agent would be back home. He opened his mind to the Song of the Universe and let it fill him with joy and peace. All was well.

***

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> No relationships here except for a vaguely implied Agent/Vector, but I did read a fic once featuring Agent/Vector/Lana, and it made me think that Vector and Lana probably would get along very well. With their shared interest in poetry (even if Lana isn't quite ready to admit to it in this fic), and their more-than-human powers, and quite possibly a joint infatuation with the Agent. And they are both quite possibly the only Actual Adults in the Alliance, so if nothing else they could use each other to vent about their hopeless charges :D


End file.
